Oyster dredge



Sept 4, 1923. 1,467,277 D. R. LOSSING OYSTER I DREDGE Filed June 22. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WITNESSES INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Sept. 4, 1923.

, D. R. LOSSING OYSTER fiREDGE Filed June 2,

1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2* firm 602a 111035571 MTURNEYS Patented Sept. 4, 1923.

UNITED STATES 9A1 ENS? @EFFE'C E DAWSON R. LOSSING, OF SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO HERMAN MILLER; OF SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA.

OYSTER DREDGE. v

Application filed June 22, 1922. Serial No. 570,085.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAWSON R. LossiNo, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Pasadena, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Oyster Dredges, of which following is a, specification.

The subject matter of this application is the same as that prosecuted in my abandoned application #762,764, filed April 22, 1913.

This invention relates to an, improved dredging machine and more particularly to those for loosening and excavating oysters and kindred shellfish.

The invention comprehends an improved oyster dredge in which the floating support in the form of a boat or barge, and pro.- pelled in any suitable manner, carries a toothed plow or fork and an endless con veyor designed to be shifted therewith or raised and lowered according to the depth of the water, such shifting being automatic and accomplished by means. of a shoe which travels along the oyster bed and also serves to smooth the same after the excavation of the oysters.

The invention further comprehends an endless conveyor which is removable to compensate for the vertical adjustment of thetoothed plow or fork forming the point 'ofthe excavator with relation to an oppositely extending support having a permanent fulcrum, also to provide means for agitating the plow and for causing. a blast preferably of water, to be forced through or caused to penetrate the oysters or excavated material so asto separate mud and other foreign matter therefrom.

A further object of the invention is comprehended in the provision of the bridge plate designed to overlie the space between the plow and the endless conveyor so as to provide for the elevation of the oysters or the like n to the conveyor at a minimum degree of elevation, so that the advance of the dredge will not be materially impeded.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides more particularly in the peculiar combination andarrangement of parts which will be illustrated as a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings and described in the specification.

Reference is to be hadto the-.accompanyif ing drawings forming: a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters. of reference indicate corresponding parts 'in all the views, and in which: a p

Figurel is a side elevation of a boat partly broken awayand having my ,improved dredging mechanism attached thereto. Z

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the. forward portion of the boat shown in Figure 1 and looking downwardly Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view throughthe plow, its supporting shoe and adjacent portion of the forward end of the conveyor; and,

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the structure shown in 3.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention,the numeral 10 indicates a floating support such as a barge or boat of any pre' ferred design and provided with a central longitudinal openingl-l forward of the hull, providing a passageway having a surrounding fiange 12 preventing the entrance ,of the water into the hull. This passage receives aconveyor embodying a frame 13 having rollers or drums 1d at its ends, mounted on shafts l5 for imparting motion to an endless belt or apron 16, preferably .of Wire mesh, and provided at equidistantly spaced points-with transversely disposed parallel slats 17 providing space forlthe; elevation of the oysters. The conveyor frame 13 is pivotally mounted on a oountershaft 18 'journaled transversely of the hull near. the

rear end of the passage provided therein and is driven from a motor 19 through intermediate drive connections 20. A propeller 21 is supported at he rear end of the hull and is also driven from the countershaft 18 through the medium of drive connections 22, these partsbeing preferably independently operable.

v The shaft 18 extends through longitudinal slots 23 in the sides of the conveyor frame near the discharge end of the latter and is mounted thereon infixed relation at opposite sides of the frame, sprocket Wheels 24. Also mounted on the shaft 18 at either side of the f-rame is anelongated bar 25 rotatably carrying on each .end' a sprocket wheel- 26, while the upper shaft of the conveyor carries at each end a sprocket wheel 27, An endless drive chain 28 is passed around each sprocket wheel 27 and a sprocket wheel 29 mounted on either side of the frame intermediate its ends, the

lower la of each chain bein extended in a rectilinear line and the upper lap in each case being passed over the sprocket wheels 26 and under the sprocket wheels 24. In this manner, when rotation is imparted to the co'untershaft 18 in the manner above described, and in a clockwise direction, the other sprocket wheels are rotated in an anti-clockwise direction so that the upper lap of the endless conveyor will move rearwardly to discharge the excavated material into the hull.

The forward end of the conveyor is supported upon a shoe 30 having upturned ends and provided with side portions 31 bent or otherwise formed with the shoe for this purpose. These side portions 31, in the form of bearings, rotatably receive the lower shaft 15 of the elevator and this shaft forms a pivotal connection between the elevator and the shoe so that the shoe will travel on the bed. during various vertical adjustments of the forward end of the conveyor, at which time the latter, through the medium of the longitudinal slots 23 in the frame thereof, will slide relative to the shaft 18 as a pivot and compensate for the variation in the radii of the arcs traversed by the free or receiving end, of the conveyor during such adjustments. The shoe 30 is advanced or pulled by reason of its connection through the instrumentality of draft rods 32 with the bow of the hull, such rods being pivotally connected to the hull and the shoe and extending in parallel relation, the pivotal connection of the rods with the hull being indicated by the numeral 33.

The lower ends of the upper rods are pivoted as shown at 34 to the upper extremities of the side portions 31 of the shoe, and the lower rods are pivoted to the shaft 15 at the lower end of the conveyor so that during the vertical adjustments of the shoe and forward end of the conveyor in the adaptation of the shoe to different depths of water, said rods will swing on their pivots 33 and since the radii of the arcs traversed by the rear the free ends of the rods are permanent, it is obvious that the longitudinal movement of the conveyor with respect to the shaft 18. upon which it is supported and pivoted, will compensate for the movements of the connected ends of the rods and conveyor in opposed arcs. The rods 32 are capable of adjustment lengthwise through the instrumentality of turn buckles 35 so that they will pivot in accord and the conveyor will be disposed in close relative position to the oyster bed and the shoe 30 as the latter'travels along the same.

Pivotally mounted on each end of the pivot 34: is a bell-crank lever 36, the upper end of each being connectedby similarly adjustable draft rod 37 to the forward portion of the hull, and each having a forwardly extending horizontal arm held inlixed position except with regard to its adjustment through the instrumentality of the turn-buckle 35 of each rod 37. Pivotally suspending for agitation or oscillation from the pivot points 34 and 38 by means of depending hangers 39, is a toothed plow or fork 40 which form the point of the excavator, and the teeth of this plow are connected by a shaft 41 and the pipe 42 transversely arranged through the teeth of the fork or with respect to said teeth. The sprocket wheels 29 are provided with crank pins having pitman connections 13 with the plow or point of the excavator through the medium of the shaft 41 so that as rotation is imparted to the sprocket wheels or crank disks thus formed, the plow will be oscillated longitudinally or forwardly and rearwardly to loosen or rais the oysters.

This whole operation is assisted by the tapered arms of the teeth of the plow, and the oysters are discharged on to the conveyor through the instrumentality of a bridge plate -14 which is preferably of resilient sheet metal and pivoted intermediate its ends, as shown at 4:5, to theopposed sides of the shoe 30, so that its extremities will bear forcibly against the plow and the conveyor to insure positive discharge of the oysters or material excavated onto the elevator with a minimum elevation thereof. The pipe 42, any number of which may be used, is provided with discharge openings e6 disposed upwardly so that a water or other fluid blast discharged intothe pipe through a conduit 47 by means of the force pump or the like 48,- will exude therefrom under high pres sure, and in this way the removal of mud and other foreign matter from oysters will be positively accomplished. It is also apparent that during the elevation of the oysters upon the foraminous and screened apron 16 the water will pass through the apron and in this way a more thorough cleansing of the oysters with an enhancement of their value, is insured.

Further embodiments, modifications and changes may be resorted to within the spirit of the invention as here claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In an oyster dredge, the combination with a floating support, of an elevator pivoted to the support and adapted for longitudinal shifting, a point for discharging oysters on to the elevator, a rigid pivoted suspension means for the point and elevator, said suspension =means moving in an are opposite to the arc traversed by the elevator as the latter is shifted on its pivot.

2. In an oyster dredge, the combination with a floating support, of an elevator pivoted to the support and adapted for longitudinal shifting at its discharge end, a point for discharging oysters on to the elevator, pivoted bars forming a suspension means for the point and elevator, and means for propelling the support.

3. In an oyster dredge, the combination with a floating support, of an elevator pivoted to the support and adapted for longitudinal shifting at its discharge end, a point for discharging oysters on to the ele vator, a plurality of lengthwise adjustable rods forming a pivoted suspension means for the point and elevator, means for propelling the support, and a supporting shoe for the suspension means and the elevator.

l. An oyster dredge comprising in combination, an elevator suspended from a support and extending in close proximity to the bed, a shoe disposed beneath and connected to the elevator for pivotal movement to compensate for the rise and fall of the elevator, a toothed plow forwardly of the shoe and elevator to discharge oysters therein and provided with a flexible connection with the latter, means forwardly of the plow for angularly adjusting the same, and a pivoted support :for the plow and elevator adapted to travel along the bed rearwardly of the plow.

5. An oyster dredge comprising in combination, an elevator suspended from a support to extend in close proximity to the bed, a shoe having side portions connected to the elevator for pivotal movement to compensate for the rise and fall of the elevator, a toothed plow forwardly of the shoe and elevator, and a flexible plate pivoted intermediate its ends to the shoe and bridging the space between the plow and the elevator to cause the discharge of the excavated material on to the latter.

6. The combination with a boat hull having a longitudinal opening; of an endless conveyor having a frame provided with longitudinal slots, a drive shaft journaled in the hull and extending through the slots to movably support the conveyor, drive connections betweenv said shaft and the conveyor for moving the latter, a plow operat ing forwardly of the conveyor, draft rods pivotally supporting the conveyor and plow and movable in arcs opposed to the arc traversed by the conveyor during raising and lowering of the latter in varying depths of water, whereby the conveyor will be shifted on the drive shaft, and means supporting the conveyor out of contact with the bed of the water body.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

D. R. LOSSING. 

